In the early stages, regular eyeglasses can help. Lifestyle modification measures such as getting the room or the place better lighting, wearing anti-reflective glasses during night driving can help to a certain extent
In a country which has the unenviable record of having the largest number of blind people in the world, Cataract has often been cited as being most responsible for this life-crippling ocular condition. With estimates attributing 50 to 80 per cent of the bilateral blindness cases in India to cataract, this must be treated as a matter of utmost and even exigent concern. In fact, cataract is also said to be the biggest cause behind what is called avoidable blindness. Globally too, cataract is the single most important cause of blindness, and the second most common cause of moderate and severe vision impairment (MSVI).
Cataract implies an eye condition which entails clouding of the lens in the eye which could occur on account of protein in the lens breaking down and clumping together leading to a blockage and weakness in vision. If not intervened at the opportune moment, it can even cause permanent blindness. Because it develops slowly, chances of being identified earlier is slim and as such it poses a silent threat to the long-term health of our eyes. It can occur in either one or both eyes. Some of the symptoms include blurry vision, sensitivity to bright lights, frequent perception of halos and rings around light entering the eye, dim and hazy colours, double vision or diplopia, frequent changing of power for glasses and lenses etc.
While cataract is purely an ocular condition, there are certain non-eye related factors that aggravate the risk of getting this disease. For instance, if you expose your eyes excessively to the sun or any radiation without protection, you risk making things worse. Or if you have been taking steroids or if you are a smoker, the risk for getting cataract increases. At the same time, some non-communicable lifestyle diseases such as diabetes can also accelerate development of cataract.
Treatment: In the early stages, regular eyeglasses can help. Lifestyle modification measures such as getting the room or the place better lighting, wearing anti-reflective glasses during night driving can help to a certain extent when the cataract is at an early stage of development. However, even after these measures if you are having difficulty in reading, or in driving or any regular household or official activity, you need to go for surgery. The most commonly performed surgery in the current times, particularly in the urban areas is Phacoemulsification which can be done with or without the assistance of Femtosecond Laser for added precision. A safe and low cost alternative in the rural scenario is the Manual Small Incision Cataract Surgery (SICS).Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgeries in India.
Barriers to care: As regards barriers to care, while cost has been one big barrier, lack of awareness is another major reason behind such high prevalence of cataract in the country. Also, poor infrastructure or non-availability of equipped operation theatre for ophthalmic microsurgery in rural and remote areas and the low presence of trained ophthalmologists in the country are other barriers to access care.
Therefore, while it is up to the healthcare authorities to improve infrastructure and mount awareness campaigns to address cataract, lay people should also be equally alert to this condition. That it is preventable and timely intervention can forestall blindness, a most debilitating life condition, must be uppermost in everyone’s minds.
The writer is Dr Tushar Grover , Medical Director at Vision Eye Centre, New Delhi